ISLAMABAD: In a first, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurhseed Shah on Friday opened the budget session in place of the finance minister, questioning its legality in the absence of constitutionally mandated National Finance Commission (NFC) which he said was a clear violation of Article 160 of the Constitution.

Soon after Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq opened the proceedings of the house, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stood up to deliver the budget speech. But at the same time the opposition leader sought the speaker’s attention to say a few words.

Following the parliamentary tradition, the speaker said in response, “Shah Sahib, during the budget session, only the finance minister is allowed to make the speech”. But the PPP leader insisted.

Noticing the opposition leader’s determination to take the rostrum, Mr Dar gave in and asked the speaker to give the mike to Mr Shah, quipping, “I am relinquishing my right because you are a descendent of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and you can speak as many times as you want even during my speech.”

In his short speech, Mr Shah said it had been seven years since the country had its last NFC which was against the Constitution, but by doing so the federal government was usurping the rights of the provinces. “Last time, it was our [PPP] government which approved the NFC award in 2009,” said the opposition leader, which prompted some members on opposition benches to chant slogans of “shame, shame”.

Reiterating the line of the PPP’s chief minister in Sindh, who said the other day that the federal government held the Nat­ional Economic Council (NEC) without taking his input and questioned the sitting on legal grounds, Khursheed Shah said, “There are also issues concerning the NEC meeting as well.”

Concluding, the opposition leader said: “The country is resonating with the word corruption now a days, therefore, I hope in his speech the finance minister will talk about the Panama Papers as well.”

Emerging from the galleries, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s parliamentary leader Shah Mehmoood Qureshi described the budget as “a collection of fantasies, a tale of disappointments” that was prepared in Dubai, a reference to the involvement of the IMF in the budget-making process.

Holding copies of the previous three budgets presented by the PML-N government, Mr Shah said there was nothing new this time around either.

“The same ratio of pay raises, the same taxes and the same promises. There’s no new programme that focuses on human development. It’s mere lip service that will not benefit the people in any way.”

“Apart from a few items on agriculture, which we will have to examine, I reject this budget because it contains nothing for the common man.”

Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament House, Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq said that this budget also seemed to have been made on the dictates of the IMF and World Bank.

“The federal government has earmarked Rs800 billion for development, but we have seen in the past that this money has been spent on a select few areas. They have not specified, area-wise, how and where they will be spending this money. Will they spend it on the uplift of the poor masses, or will it be used for political purposes again?”

Meanwhile, PTI leader Asad Umar tweeted, “not a single word in the budget for bringing back looted wealth from abroad”.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2016